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Board Games Click With Adults 71
Thanks to the Washington Post for their article discussing the rise of sophisticated, adult-aimed board games. According to the piece, "sales of non-electronic specialty games... have nearly quadrupled since 1995, [and] one of the fastest-growing areas, industry experts say, is the adult strategy game." But although "the specialty market is still dwarfed by mass-marketed games", excluding a few break-out specialty titles like Settlers Of Catan, the article claims that "board-game sales have always increased during economic slumps", and, "in a sign of just how hungry people are for smarter board games, adult-education programs in Fairfax and Arlington now offer classes that introduce strategy-oriented [boardgame] titles."
Double-checking the numbers (Score:2)
Some of those sales include Pokemon and Yu-
Settlers of Satan (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Settlers of Satan (Score:1)
Re:Settlers of Satan (Score:2)
So we went to the local graveyard and started using it.
S....
A....
T....
For some damn reason, he decides to start pulling towards the "I" as I tried to pull towards the "A."
Needless to say, not a whole lot of people were freaked out by a visit from the Lord of the Underworld, Satin himself!
S
Re:Settlers of Satan (Score:2)
Portability (Score:4, Insightful)
Thus, board gaming also appeals to computer players who need their social and competitive fixes but are sick of lugging around so much equipment.
Re:Portability (Score:2, Funny)
Maybe, but I've never spilled all the letters out of my GameCube. I can't say as much about Scrabble.
Come to think of it, a GameCube is pretty portable. I think you can even get backpacks for them. Then again, it's probably really wierd being the only person over 12 at a GameCube LAN party.
Re:Portability (Score:1)
It's a good thing it's so portable, too, because I'd rather play Mario Golf over almost any multiplayer game out there.
Except for Power Stone 2.
Re:Portability (Score:1)
(You'd think that after the eighth time they've seen it in two hours they'd be less incredulous about the whole thing)
Re:Portability (Score:1)
Board Games are fun! (Score:1)
When you're young, you play Chutes and Ladders and Hi-ho-cherry-o
When you're older, you play them too. Many games are fun for couples, and nothing's better than Jenga+drunks
Re:Board Games are fun! (Score:1)
Chutes and Ladders [amazon.com] is the American equivalent of
Snakes and Ladders [bbc.co.uk] link goes to online version at the BBC [bbc.co.uk]
Hi-ho-cherry-o [amazon.com] is a new one on me.
Possible reason (Score:4, Insightful)
Hence they buy a board game instead of reading. I suspect that we will continue to see a strong correlation between the increase in tech jobs (and tech education) and board game sales.
Increase education amongst the ADD (Score:5, Insightful)
As a person with ADHD (woohoo!), I highly recommend going beyond just strategy games into pen & paper RPGs with or without tabeltop miniatures.
The more work that you put into role-playing, the more you have to read. (For gaming alone, I end up reading history, economics, law, & political science.) You also interact with others and get your creative juices flowing.
Re:Increase education amongst the ADD (Score:1)
Re:Possible reason (Score:3, Funny)
What? (Score:2)
Board games are a popular party activity where I live - I can't imagine a situation where they would be a substitute for reading.
One Word (Score:2, Informative)
Re:One Word (Score:2)
An old friend owned it, best game ever. Too bad the 3rd edition just sucks
Re:One Word (Score:2)
German Board Games (Score:5, Informative)
In Germany, and other parts of Europe, they make board games very unlike we do in America. We have things like Monopoly or Sorry, where the winner is determined mostly by luck. Over there, they have games where luck is a small or non-existant factor. This is why those games are awesome. Me and my friends have been playing German board games for like 2 or 3 years now. Puerto Rico and El Grande are our favorites. Settlers is just the gateway game, so if you like that then come on in. I hope one day these good games will be on the shelf next to Monopoly, rather than in the specialty shop only.
Head to http://www.boardgamegeek.com to see what I mean.
Re:German Board Games (Score:1)
Re:German Board Games (Score:5, Interesting)
America does have board games that aren't all luck, though. Monopoly has a lot of luck, but there's also quite a bit of strategy. And Clue contains little luck as well. Risk also contains strategy, although once you understand it it can be a little simplistic.
American games contain luck for one reason: luck makes the game "fair". Ever play against someone on the internet who keeps beeting you because they play 8 hours a day? It's no fun when you don't have a chance to win. That's why I believe that luck is an important part of a game. Monopoly is one such example. You try to dupe others into selling you properties for too little. But anyone can hit it big by landing on Park Place and rolling snake eyes (one on each die, which puts you on Boardwalk). It's also fun because games of luck can have sudden changes at any time. One roll of the dice can change the entire course of a Monopoly game. That's exciting.
By "American Board Games", I think that you are referring to popular board games. But those aren't the only games we have. In my local mall, there are literally more than 100 different board games, including many German games.
Re: Monopoly (Score:1)
Don't let Parker Bros. get a monopoly on board games!
Re: Monopoly (Score:2)
The strategy in Monopoly revolves around three things:
1: Knowing what to trade, for what, and when. Which is more valuable? Would you trade New York for Park Place? It depends on how much cash your opponents have.
2: Knowing what to pass up. In some situations, Baltic/Medeterraian/The Railroads/Utilities can be a good value. Sometimes the're junk.
3: Knowing when to build. Do you hold on to your moeny or use it to build on your properties.
Re:German Board Games (Score:2, Informative)
It may actually be German, for all I know, but I bought it as a child around 1980 from a mainstream toy store in the U.S. There was no indication that it was an import or remake.
So it looks like the American market at least *used* to get the right games, one way or another.
Re:German Board Games (Score:3, Informative)
Community & Communication (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course adults need more elaborate games than children. Just rolling a die gets boring quickly, so a good games challenges you mentally (or lets you challenge the other players).
If you lose all the time, try a different style of play: try to lose from the beginning, announce it, and act accordingly
I've noticed that you will win, despite your best effords to lose. Oh, and don't overdo it. One or two rounds are fun, after that it wears off and becomes tiresome, ultimately annoying everyone else
Re:Community & Communication (Score:1)
Some goofy fun.. (Score:5, Informative)
CheapAssGames [cheapass.com] --No it's NOT a p0rn site.
Re:Some goofy fun.. (Score:1)
Also, for those of you outside the States, I have hear of these games being stopped at customs due to the companys unique name, not for the contents. This is odd because I can buy these games at my local gaming shop here in Canada.
Re:Some goofy fun.. (Score:1)
I wouldn't put too much faith in the rumour.... CA games are available here in
Re:Some goofy fun.. (Score:1)
Its not a rumour, it happened to a friend of mine who was el'Presedente of a University gaming club at the time. She ordered a few games on-line because the local gaming store didn't have those particular ones, and she thought that she could save a little money by ordering directly from the source.
Needless to say, we have very little respect for Canadian Customs (who have been known to seize books at the border that w
Cheap Options (Score:4, Informative)
A big problem with getting into these specialty board games is the cost of entry. Reviews help, but it's hard to really know if you're going to like a game until you buy it and try it out. You can get more bang for your buck by getting a game system, which allows you to play many games. One of my favorites is Icehouse [wunderland.com], which enables you to play hundreds of games of different genres. Geeks love Zendo [wunderland.com], an inductive logic game you can play with an Icehouse set.
Another option is Cheapass Games [cheapass.com], a company specializing in selling games you can play using equipment you probably already have (dice, tokens, cards).
I've also heard good things about Piecepack [piecepack.org] games. Piecepack is a public domain gaming system, so you can buy a set from several different manufacturers or make your own.
Easy to find good ones (Score:2, Informative)
Bohnanza is an amazing game. I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy playing it, and yet it's still a highly strategic game.
Dual definition of "Adult"... (Score:5, Informative)
Tragic though it may be, it seems that the latter definition is the more common one, even here on
Enough maudlin, back to games.
On the American side of things, there's Cheapass games [cheapass.com], Looney Labs [wunderland.com], Out of the Box publishing [otb-games.com], and for you linux/opensource/get-it-for-free-fans, Piecepack [piecepack.org].
On the German side of the coin, you've got a bit of a quandry. Most German game manufacturers are GmbH, which is an abbreviation for something or another, but basically boils down to the fact that the company isn't allowed to export their products themselves. So, in order for German games to reach other shores, they must go through other companies. Among them, Mayfair Games [mayfairgames.com], importers of the Catan series (pronounced cuh-tahn'), Rio Grande Games [riograndegames.com] (Bohnanza is a good gateway game, while Peurto Rico and TransAmerica have been getting good attention from less casual gamers.), and on some occasions, Fantasy Flight Games [fantasyflightgames.com], current makers of most Lord of the Rings board games.
For actually buying the games, I would suggest Funagain [funagain.com] or Boulder Games [bouldergames.com].
Enjoy.
adult games (Score:1)
Return on investment (Score:2, Interesting)
Talisman (Score:2)
Complete sets of this game used to go f
Re:Talisman (Score:2)
I'm trying to get my friend to pick up a copy of Munchkin Fu [sjgames.com]. I mean who doesn't like a Karate Squid [sjgames.com]
I also highly recommend Carcassonne [boardgamegeek.com]
-prator
Re:Talisman (Score:1)
I just got Strange Synergy [sjgames.com] yesterday. I hear it's quite fun, but really I'm just a big Phil Foglio whore.
CAVET EMPTOR (Score:1)
Re:CAVET EMPTOR (Score:2)
Re:CAVET EMPTOR (Score:1)
Re:CAVET EMPTOR (Score:2)
Re:CAVET EMPTOR (Score:1)
Zombies!!! (Score:1)
Re:Zombies!!! (Score:1)
Re:Zombies!!! (Score:1)
Re:Zombies!!! (Score:1)
exsqueeze me? baking powder? (Score:2)
Hmph. Journalism indeed...
Re:exsqueeze me? baking powder? (Score:1)
I like it, but it isn't the same kettle of fish.
Re:exsqueeze me? baking powder? (Score:1)
Re:exsqueeze me? baking powder? (Score:1)
Illuminati (Score:2)
--trb
Re:Illuminati (Score:1)
Talk about your viral marketing (Score:4, Interesting)
We've introduced probably 10 people to Carcassone (very low learning curve).
And it continues. You have someone over, say, "Want to play a board game?"
They expect Monolopy and out comes one of these great games that has a lot of the planning and strategy of a computer game but all the social interaction of a tabletop game. Of course they want to know where they can buy it (there's the rub!).
Once they realize there's a whole genre of these games, it's like you've introduced them to a new world.
Re:Talk about your viral marketing (Score:2)
They
Don't take any wooden nickels (Score:1)
Settlers, Europe, and Some Links (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's some useful links:
Warboarding (Score:2)
I sure miss Sixth Fleet, the Tank Leader series, Starfleet Battles... ah, good times, good times.
Re:Warboarding (Score:1)
The Farming Game (Score:2)
You know it's a good game when they've actually bought it in Russia to teach people about farming.
Games are a great buy (Score:1)
While you're at it, see if you can find a copy of Burn Rate - with a theme based on the dot-com collapse.